[DAILYCALLER] A check that Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez wrote to his longtime campaign donor Dr. Salomon Melgen on Jan. 4 to cover private jet travel to the Dominican Republic represented more than one-third of his cash-on-hand -- and perhaps as much as 90 percent -- according to an analysis of his most recent U.S. Senate financial disclosure report.

Dan O'Brien, Menendez's chief of staff, told WNBC-TV4 in New York on Tuesday that the senator reimbursed Melgen $58,500 for two trips they took together to the island nation in 2010.

Menendez signed a disclosure statement on May 9, 2012 indicating that he had between $66,003 and $165,000 in three different bank and credit union accounts. His only other asset is a rental property worth between $250,001 and $500,000.

WASHINGTON  Federal immigration agents were prepared to arrest an illegal immigrant and registered sex offender days before the November elections but were ordered by Washington to hold off after officials warned of significant interest from Congress and news organizations because the suspect was a volunteer intern for Sen. Robert Menendez, according to internal agency documents provided to Congress.

The Homeland Security Department said last month, when The Associated Press first disclosed the delayed arrest of Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, that APs report was categorically false.

Sanchez, 18, was an immigrant from Peru who entered the country on a now-expired visitor visa. He eventually was arrested at his home in New Jersey on Dec. 6. He has since been released from an immigration jail and is facing deportation. Sanchez has declined to speak to the AP.

After the AP story, which cited an unnamed U.S. official involved in the case, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and six other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the Obama administration for details about the incident.

In other news: Still no word from Vera Baker who headed off to Fort de France, Martinique to start the site CapeCaribbean.com, which is self-described as a strategic mix of marketing based services, with Marc Merlini  whose name Baker would take on when she was listed as Vera Baker-Merlini on Senator Burris staff.

[NATIONALREVIEW] Two page opinion piece using Detroit as the model for all cities in decline, which it isn't. The valid point the author does make is that the cities' regimes keep acting as though the money was still flowing like it did about the time they started being run by Dem machine politicians. Detroit is well on its way to winking out of existence -- but it's the city council that's to blame. But Chicago's got a different set of problems even though they stem from a similar source. Washington D.C.'s problem with the Marion ("The Bitch Set Me Up!") Barry administration made the place a national laughingstock, but the voters gave him another term as soon as he was out of jail and he's still on the city council. New Orleans' problems during Katrina stemmed a lot more from its corrupt and incompetent city administration than from FEMA or G.W.Bush.

#2
Again, THE MORE BAD OR WORSE THINGS ARE, THE BETTER FOR ANTI-US LEFTISTS-GLOBALISTS + ANTI-US OWG + NAU, where differentiated regional Nation-States will be "forced" to depend on one another just for simple survival

SNAFU > nearly every day as per the MSM-Net Americans = Amerikans see the Fed surrender steadily + in piecemeal to the future OWG + OWG NAU 2015. CALL ME WEIRD BUT I DON'T SEE MEXICO, CANADA, + GREENLAND, ETC. SURRENDERING AS FAST OR AS DUBIOUS AS WASHINGTON = BAMMER + ADMIN ARE.

#3
Corrupt political machines, unions, and crime can only survive as long as the host [business and industry] continues to breath and thrive. When the host dies, the parasites migrate to government for their sustenance or find a new host elsewhere.

When the government host finally dies, well, then you have a very real problem.

#4
... a bold plan to revitalize Belle Isle by having the city sell it for $1 billion to investors who believe in individual freedom, liberty, and free markets. The investors would be given freedom to set up an enterprise zone, which would have self-governing commonwealth status with the U.S. much as Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands have. The new Belle Isle would have a top rate of 10 percent on income taxes, and no taxes on capital gains, dividends, investments, or estates.

Here's an idea: why don't we make the whole damn country an "enterpreise zone" with business-friendly policies like those described above. Be nice if these folks would stop rent-seeking long enough to at least try to explain the validity of these policies to the low information crowd.

Klinger is jealous.
A week after women were cleared to serve in combat, Defense Intelligence Agency employees got a different message. "Makeup makes you more attractive." "Don't be a plain Jane." "A sweater with a skirt is better than a sweater with slacks." "No flats." "Paint your nails." "Don't be afraid of color." And, "brunettes have more leeway with vibrant colors than blondes or redheads."

Men and women at DIA were given fashion advice in a presentation prepared by an employee at the agency this week. Susan Strednansky, public affairs officer at DIA, offered the agency's regrets about the briefing, which raised eyebrows among some employees, saying, "I'm not going to deny that it exists, and it was bad. It was inappropriate for sure." She added, "Neither the agency nor the leadership has condoned anything that was in that briefing."

The presentation offered gender-specific advice on how to improve one's success in the workplace through appearance. "It was an informal event that an employee put together, a briefing on How to Dress for Success," Strednansky says. "It's not directive. It is not mandatory. It is just, 'Hey, here are some suggestions.'"

In response to the presentation, DIA director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn sent a letter to employees that was provided to Whispers. In it, he apologized to employees for "the unnecessary and serious distraction" and called the presentation "highly offensive." Flynn added that he hoped the intentions were "pure of heart and intended to help... but even smart people do dumb things sometimes. That said, no one is going to be taken to the wood shed over this. They'll require some counseling (to be sure) on what it means to think before you act."

#2
And just wait until some 'makeup-enhanced' female draws an unwanted wolf whistle and files a sexual harrassment suit....
I lived through one Tailhook, and wouldn't wish that witch hunt on anybody......

Scott Brown will not run for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry, the former senator told the Herald first today.

Browns decision follows yesterdays announcement by fellow Republican Charlie Baker that he wont run for the seat either. Baker did urge former Gov. William Weld, who just moved back to Massachusetts, to run if Brown doesnt.

This leaves Democrats U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch and rival U.S. Rep. Edward Markey as the only two declared candidates for the office.

#3
He may make a run for governor next year and he'd have a pretty good shot.
As far as the current race, Excretable Eddie is the party's anointed one but he's a horseshit candidate. A lot of the unions are taking a pass on him. I think Lynch is gonna take him in the primary. At least the guy has worked for a living and knows where his district is.
The Republican's are talking the usual suspects. Bill Weld, Charlie Baker, the rumor this morning is that they want Romney's wife to run.

#6
It was a politically savvy move. In Massachusetts, Republicans have a much better chance of winning the race for Governor (where a fiscally conservative Governor can be a spending break on the state legislator) than for Senator (where the voters prefer an extra vote for the Democrats). The extra time will distance Brown from previous defeats while also making him look good compared with the next Republican candidate who will do much worse in the election than Brown had done.

[BREITBART] Because nothing says serious political candidate like a famous mustache and a bizarre history of covering faux Satanic ritual popularity, Geraldo Rivera is prepping for a New Jersey senatorial run, the radio and television host said Thursday. "I mention this only briefly, fasten your seatbelt," he stated. "I am and I've been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey. I am truly contemplating running for Senate against Frank Lautenberg or Cory Booker in New Jersey."

#1
I am and Ive been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey." Does that mean he is claiming to be a Pub? No way. Compared to Obama? That is really difficult. That's sort of like asking: Do you want cancer or a flesh-eating bacterial disease?

[Washington Post] Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-N.J.) New Jersey colleague has responded to the growing controversy surrounding the senator's ties to a doctor who was recently raided, and he's not exactly doing Menendez any favors.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), in comments reported by the Star-Ledger, left open the possibility that the allegations against Menendez could have merit:

"If there are infractions as they are reported, it's too bad," Lautenberg told reporters.
...
"There a lot that's said and covered, but I for one know Bob as a very capable United States senator, and I'm sorry to see him in this position," Lautenberg said. "But I can't give you anything more. Don't want to. Don't know to."
...
Lautenberg later added he had not spoken to Menendez about the accusations but called them "devastating."
"(He) has built an almost sterling reputation for a lot of years and our hope is that this, what we're hearing, is not as it's presented," Lautenberg said. "I think Bob will survive this with his good work. This is a terrible tragedy. And we're not yet sure what all of the facts are."

[WASHINGTONTIMES] In a case of the mighty having fallen, the campaign of Democratic Rep. Charlie Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! RangelCongressman-for-Life from Harlem, who became what 20 terms in Congress turns you into ..., the dean of the New York Congressional delegation and a man who was for decades untouchable in his Harlem district, is $35,000 in debt but has only $5,000 in the bank and has received handouts from other House members.Sounds like it's time for another "birthday party"...
Mr. Rangel faced his first serious primary challenge in years, spending nearly a half-million dollars to fend off the son of the man he first deposed decades ago.

And ethics charges have worn him down, forcing him to fundraise separately for a legal defense fund. His campaign donated the maximum allowed, $5,000, to the legal fund, disclosures showed Thursday.

Mr. Rangel, who long helped other colleagues raise money, more recently has found himself on the receiving end of charity, as his colleagues in the House donated money to him through their leadership PACs, an act that had never before been necessary.

There are over 300 million Americans, and another 20 million more Undocumented-Americans about to be fast-tracked down the soi-disant path to citizenship. Surely, from this vast talent pool, it should be possible to find someone whos sufficiently interested in running the planets biggest military not to present himself on the world stage as a woozy, unfocused stumblebum. In an exquisite touch, responding to reports that Hagel was ill-prepared, someone in the White House leaked that he had been thoroughly coached. In other words, dont blame us: We put him through the federally mandated Confirmation Hearing for Dummies course. He doesnt have to be a competent defense secretary; he just has to play one on TV for a couple of hours. But even thats too much to ask of an increasingly dysfunctional political system: The Senate disdains to pass a budget, 70 percent of U.S .Treasury debt is bought by the Federal Reserve, month-long negotiations to cut spending turn out in the final deal to increase spending . . . and the presidents choice of defense secretary tells the world he has no idea what our policy on Iran is.

Hagel may know nothing about Iran, but hes an incisive expert on America.

#2
I'm thinking that the Obama brain trust has the idea that they can survive and control an economic collapse especially it they cause it. His cabinet seems to consist of fodder for the underside of the bus who think they'll be taken care of no matter what happens. The problem the controllers and the fooder is that they are working from a theory that has never worked. The revolution eats its own.

#7
why even have a hearing if the knucklehead nominated can bomb the hearing and still be confirmed?

Because "I am not a King" Obama has to call in his chips to get Dem senators to make absolute fools of themselves in public. At some point he is going to run out of chips and bring down his whole political structure (the party, the MSM, Hollywood) with him.

Hopefully the United States of America will not callapse along with him.

Hillary Clinton steps down from State Dept ... while proclaiming the world is a safer place. Meanwhile ... US stock market pops over 14,000 mark (Dow), everyone piles in with their money, and volatility is at all-time lows.

WELL - I certainly feel like I can breathe easier. How about you?! HAHAHA!!!

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.